I am a creator. I love to make handouts, curriculum, workbook, lists, articles, etc. etc. I find it extremely satisfying and fun. Some of my friends asked me if I had created anything for Christmas and I said, "Yes, I have a few things. I'll send them to you." As I started looking for the items I kept finding more and more. I added them to the email, but it soon became too big for two emails .... and ... I had more to add. "Whoa" I thought, "I had no idea I had created so many things concerning Christmas!"

I had an epiphany with my own Christmas creations - lol! 

So, as per their request and to my delight, I am creating this blog as a place I can put all my creations.

My hope is that you enjoy them, add to them, print them, use them to help you become closer to Christ. If it gets to be too much spread it out through the years.

Enjoy!

12 Days of Christmas

Christmas Stories

Christmas Poetry

Names of Jesus

Nativity Symbols

Prophesies of Christmas

Prophesies of Christmas workbook

Witnesses of Christmas

The 12 Days of Christmas

Epiphany Blog

Forgotten Symbols

Christmas Symbol - Bread

Christmas Symbol - Manger

Christmas Prophesies

Symbols of the Christmas Story

The Truth About the Witnesses of Christ's Birth

13 Christmas Witnesses

Pre-Christmas Prophesies

Types & Shadows of Christmas

Forgotten Christmas Symbols

Sinterklaas

Hanukkah

Epiphany

Christmas with the Prophets

Christmas Art Work

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Here are some ideas we have implemented and handouts we have created over the years.

• Prepare a smell for the day, that is not used the rest of the days. (stove-top potpourri)
• Have a Sabbath Day play list for songs only listened to on Sunday.
• Light a candle that is lit in the morning, placed in a prominent place, and burned out at night.
• Work on family vision, family history, family stories, family story book, family photos….
• Go on family walks, spend time with a family member, give someone a call.
• Practice Sabbath – we would learn how to sit still each day. At first it was 10 seconds, it grew to 10 minutes a day and it helped them learn to sit still at the pews.

The Hebrews thought of the Sabbath Day as the center of their week. The Star of David helps us understand how important it was for them. The center hexagon touches each of the days of the week, it holds it together. Just as we should center our lives around the Savior and have him be a part of each day of our lives.

John Young, one of my professors, wrote a beautiful article on the Sabbath Day where he introduces Hebrew culture and scripture ideas:

• Sabbath Day -John Max Young

I made this Sabbath Day book for my little children to look at during Sacrament Meeting.

• Sabbath Book PDF

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Sinterklaas in History:

Did you know that it was Dutch Immigrants who brought the tradition of Santa Claus to the rest of the world? That’s right! It all started waaaay back in the 4th Century when a Bishop in Turkey named St. Nicholas became widely known for his good deed with poor children in Europe. His feast day became known as the Celebration of Sinterklaas and was held on December 6. St. Nicholas is also known as the patron saint of Amsterdam. Many different versions of the story of Saint Nicholas are told but there are some common characters in each one. First is Saint Nick’s companion Zwarte Piet. Some believe that Zwarte Piet was a black slave. This is not the case. Zwarte Piet is said to be a Turkish orphan that traveled as St. Nicholas’ helper. His darker Turkish features must have seemed black to the fairer 4th Century Dutch. The second common character is Schimmel, St. Nicholas’ fine white horse.

St. Nicholas is pictured in medieval and renaissance paintings as a tall, dignified man dressed in red vestments carrying a Bishop’s golden crook. Zwarte Piet is depicted in garish Turkish garb with bright red lips and a gold earring. The legend describes St. Nicholas and Zwarte Piet traveling from their home in Spain across Europe helping the poor and bring food to children. Through the ages, the story of St. Nicholas astride his white horse with this helper Zwarte Piet grew into a tradition to celebrate the feast day on December 6th. St. Nicholas travels to Holland on a steam ship from Spain. He would leave in mid November and arrive on December 5th. Just in time to place small gifts and treats like pepernoten, chocolate initials, marzipan figures and fruit.  In the past, St. Nicholas carried a Birch switch used to punish children who were naughty and Zwarte Piet was said to put bad children in his sack or would leave them a lump of coal in their shoes instead of treats. Today, St. Nicholas is portrayed as a more gentle figure and Zwarte Piet is a jokester.

Sinterklaas comes to North America:

The tradition of St. Nicholas came to North America with Netherlands Protestant Settlers in New Amsterdam, now New York. At that time, the gift giving at the celebration of St. Nicholas’ feast day was separate from the celebration of Christmas on December 25. It wasn’t until the publication of “twas the Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clark Moore that Santa Claus as a “jolly old elf” with reindeer was born. The Santa Claus legend has helpers who are elves and also know “whose naughty and nice”.

Sinterklaas Today:

Today children in Holland still look forward to the arrival of St. Nicholas. Children are told that St. Nicholas is very busy and has many helpers who dress like him and Zwarte Piet so that no child is left out. Children place straw or carrots in their shoes for Schimmel and St. Nicholas replaces these with gifts and treats. Adults will also exchange gifts and usually attach a funny poem or verse. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is celebrated with family gatherings and meals rather than gifts. Although some Dutch people will exchange gifts at that time as well. Another part of the fun is how presents are hidden or disguised. Recipients often have to go on a treasure hunt all over the house, aided by hints, to look for them.

They must be prepared to dig their gifts out of the potato bin, to find them in a jello pudding, in a glove filled with wet sand, in some crazy dummy or doll. Working hard for your presents and working even harder to think up other peoples’ presents and get them ready is what the fun is all about.

In other countries where there are people of Dutch heritage, the tradition of Sinterklaas lives on. In our town, St. Nicholas comes to visit with Zwarte Piet and children sit on his knee and are asked if they have been good. Zwarte Piet always tries to put one of the children in his sack, but always lets them wiggle out again. Treats of pepernoten or ginger snaps, chocolate and candy are given to each child. In many homes that tradition of exchanging chocolate initials of the first letter of each persons name is continued. And we look forward to all the treats available during Sinterklaas time like almond rings (rich pastry wrapped around almond filling) and marzipan (almond confectionary molded into fun shapes). This year, why don’t you celebrate Sinterklaas with us. It is a fun family tradition for adults and kids alike.

A Special Sinterklaas Treat: 

Almond Speculaas:

Ingredients:
1 cup butter or margarine
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp baking soda
2 tsp milk
½ cup sliced almonds
Preparation:
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Mix flour, baking soda, and cinnamon seperately. Add to creamed butter and sugar until combined. Spread dough into foil lined 13×9 inch baking pan. Brush top with milk and sprinkle with almond. Press almonds into dough. Bake at 350 degree pre-heated oven for 15 – 18 minutes or until golden. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting into squares. Makes about 36 squares.
If you are going to mold the cookies then ensure that the molds are chilled, oil and flour them lightly to start and then flour lightly after each use. Scraps and trimmings should be refrigerated and used all together at the end.

Sinterklaas Poetry and Surprises:
For more adult company, where each person has gone through the trauma of finding out that Sinterklaas never existed, the presents are just bought by friends and family. Although everybody knows this, the pretense is still kept that they were brought by Sinterklaas. Much trouble is taken to ensure that the giver remain anonymous. Presents should each be accompanied by a poem (gedicht) and are often packaged in a surprise wrapping (called a surprise, pronounced in the French way). Sinterklaas poems should be funny, they might allude to the person receiving the present or to the surprise or both. It is perfectly permissible to poke fun at someone’s habits or personality in a Sinterklaas poem, which explains the need for anonymity… For example, for someone who has terrible trouble getting up in the morning, a surprise might take the shape of a huge alarm clock made out of cardboard (the actual present hidden somewhere inside), with a poem explaining how this present might enable him to finally arrive at work on time. For people with a less subtle sense of humour surprises containing molasses and cotton wool or presents embedded in plaster are popular.
Sinterklaas poems are notoriously bad, since everyone has to write one and not everybody is a gifted poet, or even a mediocre one… Thus, “Sinterklaasgedicht” (Sinterklaas poem) has become a derogatory term for any bad poetry.

Example of Sinterklaas Gedichtijes (poetry): 

Caitlyn,

What do we get
for the one who does everything
so well?
Is it a cute little pet?

Or should it be a game.
That drives mom insane?

Well its said, you know
That the one who
learns like you
Will make the world glow!

So to help you through
this crazy world
With people curled
Here is something true!

Light up the wick
It will light
The whole room over
From the cold prick

Sinterklaas

Essetha
For the kitchen angle
With a twisted angel
We adore your cooking
And the yummy baking
 
May angles always be with you 
As you continue what you do
 
 
Know you are admired
For all the food we‚ve desired!
Sinterklaas

Natassja,
Rick, Ticky, packy
Isn’t this tacky?
To have to read a crazy poem
To those sitting on foam.
This gift isn’t a toy
But it is for you to enjoy
And then it’s to be kept.
And after you have slept
And use it often
So you don’t go to the coffin.
Sinterklaas

Allison,

So what is it you like?
To be in the lime light?

To just dribble a ball?
To blow kisses to all?

Yes, sure but that’s not all
For we have heard your call.

You have been so very kind
To the seeing and the blind

Get on the galiant horse
Continue on this course

Of spreading great good cheer
To all those that will hear.

Sinterklaas

Samantha,

To one that is so bright
Here is something quite right.

Use your skills
and many frills

Rub this in
And you may begin

To teach others
How to be brothers.

Sinterklaas

Kira,
You are full of spark
And have made your mark.
Use the force of light 
To make the world bright.
Remember all those times
Without many dimes
Just good ol’ fun
When all is done.
Sinterklaas

To Leslie,

A Mother of Many
A Friendly Fellow
A Simple Smile
A Wife of a Wonder
A Silly Storyteller
A Nifty Nurse
A Busy Bus driver
A Tender Teacher
A Lively Listener,

For one so busy
And in a tizzy,
You must be in need
And not just greed
Of something to bring
Peace when life stings

Sinterklaas

Karisa,

Having stress?
Don’t make a mess
Just squeeze if you please
This bit of a ball
Till that tension is small

I’ve tried and I’ve tried
and I just couldn’t get better
So this is what you get
in this silly little letter.
Zwarte Piete

Morgan,

For the kitchen angle
With a twisted angel 
 
May angles always be with you 
As you continue what you do
The cooking and stirring
And all while singing!
Sinterklaas

Abigail,

This gift I bring
It does not ring
It does not ting
Nor does it ping.

But it does burn
And it will turn
A queen into
A big black shoe.

You have been fine
Lay it on the line
This gift to make
Is for you to take
Home and create
And imaginate.

Some thing we know
Your Tremindo!

Sinterklaas

Sinterklaas Gedichtijes may be

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March 8, 2024 

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One of our Sabbath Day traditions is to have a “Sunday Scent” (like the ancient temple in the Holy Room) and we light a candle like the Menorah. Each Sabbath morning we have a family prayer and Mom lights the candle to be lit all day. We put a pot of water with cinnamon sticks, oranges and cloves on the stove to simmer all day. During the Holy Week, we do this tradition each day all week long in addition to our other Resurrection Celebration traditions.

This year we added a NEW TRADITION to our Easter Week – A Resurrection Basket! We begin on Palm Sunday and add an item(s) each day. We place the basket on the center of the table, a place we can see it throughout the day.

Sunday – Palm Sunday

We read Matthew 21:1-11 and discuss the Triumphant Entry and its significance. We often talk about how it relates to the Passover Celebration and the day they “chose” a lamb to be sacrificed. When the children were younger we would act out the event with green towels for palm leaves and an older child being a colt and a younger child riding on him as Jesus.

Resurrection Basket: Make a basket out of palm leaves. Or obtain a woven basket to represent a palm leaf basket to start collecting Easter symbols in throughout the week.

Monday – cleansing the Temple

We read Matthew 21:12–15; Mark 11:15–17; Luke 19:45–46 about Jesus cleaning out the worldly merchandise from “His” house (the temple). We discuss the importance of temples and they are God’s way of visiting his children.

Resurrection Basket: add white Easter lilies (or other spring flowers) next to your basket to remind you of the importance, beauty, and purity of the temple.

Tuesday – nothing is recorded

Before Passover, a young, innocent lamb is chosen to be the sacrificial offering for the Passover meal. It is brought into the home and treated as one of the family. The lamb was not to be cut up, fried, but roasted only. A symbol of wholeness – completely dedicating ourselves to the Lord. They also prepare for this celebration by thoroughly cleaning their homes. They rid their lives of yeast for a week. Yeast symbolizes the influence of evil that spreads fast. Water is used to clean their homes and their bodies and the lamb.

Resurrection Basket: choose a small trinket or stuffed animal to represent your pascal lamb and add it to your basket. Clean your home (or at least part), bath, and choose your best clothes to wear for the Resurrection Celebration in remembrance of being clean, justified, before the coming of the Savior. We found very tiny jars and put water in one of them and added it to our basket.

Wednesday – Christ told several parables

We read the parable of the ten virgins, found in Matthew 25:1-13. The Lord, speaking to us said, “Be faithful, praying always, having your lamps trimmed and burning, and oil with you, that you may be ready at the coming of the Bridegroom” (D&C 33:17). This parable illustrates how we are to prepare for Christ’s Second Coming by “[receiving] the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived” (D&C 45:57). Coins seem to be a common theme during this Resurrection Week. Jesus saw the widow giving two mites, everything she had to the temple fund. He paid taxes to Ceasar by finding a coin within a fish. Earlier in the week, he turned over the money changers table with coins. And Judah betrays him and receives 30 pieces of silver. He also had a woman anoint him with oil and spices in preparation for his death.

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Resurrection Basket: We added an oil lamp and a small jar of oil to remind us to be spiritually prepared for the Second Coming. In one of these small jars, we added spices to remind us to prepare for our second birth. We collected coins from around the world and talked about whose they belonged to, man, country, or God.

Thursday – The First day of Unleavened Bread – Passover

We read the account of the Last Supper found in Matthew 26:17-30; Mark 14:12-18; Luke 22:7-13. The Savior blessed the broken bread and cup of wine and gave it to the Apostles, changing the Passover over to the Sacrament. Then Jesus washed their feet with water (John 13). Cups seems to be another common symbol during this week. During the Passover meal, we drink four cups, a cup is filled for Elijah, and after Passover in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus asked, “Father, if it be they will remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done.”

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Resurrection Basket: find or make a cup that represents the blessings of Christ’s Atonement to your family and add it to your basket. We also add matzah bread representing the absence of evil, water for cleansing, and grapes to remind us of our covenants at the sacrament altar. A tree branch was added to remind us of the grove of trees in the Garden of Gethsemane and the Sacred Grove.

Friday – Christ is tried and crucified on the cross

We read Matthew 27:1 -54, the account of the trials and the crucifixion of Jesus. We each imagine being one of the witnesses of the crucifixion. Then we go around the room discussing how, as being that person, we would feel as we watch Jesus lifted up on the cross. We compare this to Moses lifting up the serpent so all could be healed and ask, “How has Jesus healed us, as a family this year?” and “How can we more efficiently look to Him and Hear Him?”

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Resurrection Basket: the scriptures are filled with references to Jesus being lifted on the cross and carrying our own cross. Each year we make a cross during our discussion. Some years it is a drawing and other years it is constructed out some material. This year we bought chocolate crosses. We also line the basket with white linen to represent the covering of Jesus’ body in the tomb and add a stone to remember the stone rolled in front of the tomb and later opened by the angels. Our little bottles come to the stage again as oil and spices are used to anoint the body of Christ in preparation for his burial.

Saturday – Jesus goes to the Spirit World

After Jesus died he went to the Spirit World to open the door between it and Spirit Prison. He made it possible for the conversion of souls, he called many to be teachers to help fulfill his mission – that all will be saved in the “Kingdom of His Father.”

Resurrection Basket: Each year we choose one or two ancestors to study. This year we chose Grandma Neil. My younger children had not known her conversion story nor that she was half German. Sharing stories about ancestors bonds them to us. We add a picture of an ancestor to our basket. Some years we do family history work and discuss ways we are linking ourselves to those beyond the veil.

Sunday – The Resurrection of Jesus, The Christ

“God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoso believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) This explains two very important gifts – the Atonement and Eternal Life with God, our Father. On Resurrection Sunday we discuss both of these gifts and about the love God has for us all. Some years we talk about the results of the Resurrection and other years we marvel at the fact that Jesus was born and reborn all in the Spring time – how symbolic! This day of Passover is the holy day, call First Fruits. They would often wave the first harvest, usually of barley, to heaven, thanking God for the first firsts, symbolic of Christ being the first fruits of those that slept – those who had died before him could now be resurrected.

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Resurrection Basket: The last items we add to our basket is a gift box reminding us about the gifts God has given us. We also add in an egg, green leaves, blossoms, etc. to remind us of Spring and berries or fruit to remember Christ as the first fruits of the Resurrection.

We believe in the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and in the Second Coming of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus, the Christ.

Have a Marvelous, Christ-Focused, Resurrection Celebration with your family!

photos by Natassja Neil

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The day before Passover, Jesus told His disciples he would be crucified in two day. (Matthew 26:1-2) How do you think the disciples responded? They couldn’t believe it, they were in a state of denial, possibly thinking, how could this be? “Let’s get out of here, so this won’t happen.” But Jesus assures them that this is the right thing to happen, it is all part of the big plan.

Chief priests conspired to kill Jesus (Matthew 26:3-5)

Jesus visited the house of Simon the leper. A woman anointed Jesus in preparation for HIs death (Matthew 26:6-13; BD, “Simon”)

Judas Iscariot arranged to betray Jesus to the chief priests (Luke 22:3-6; BD “Judas”). He sells the identity of Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave. Judas was the treasurer of the twelve apostles. He knew they were low of funds. Perhaps he thought that Jesus could get out of this situation and that it wouldn’t lead to his death.

It is interesting to think about how Jesus, a poor man sold as a slave would pay the price for ALL mankind.

~ Discuss with your family a time when you were told about something sad. How did you respond? How did you feel? How did you cope?

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